


The Eye of What Matters

by ChampionFlyer



Series: Head Sick [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Fights, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Has ADHD, Keith (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Keith (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance has schizophrenia, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mental Institutions, Mild ADHD, Multiple chapters, Picnics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23135902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChampionFlyer/pseuds/ChampionFlyer
Summary: He comes home today. Lance comes home today.After almost a full year of waiting, Lance finally comes home.And Keith hopes Lance will come back his fiance.Or: Keith plans to propose to Lance the same day he gets discharged from the hospital.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Head Sick [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1377496
Comments: 20
Kudos: 141





	1. Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Holy hell... TWO PARTER???
> 
> yes. now you must wait for chapter two. 
> 
> (que creepy ass laughter and happy key board noises)

Keith was peeling the Scotch tape off of his fingers while balancing on his wobbly office chair when his phone rang from the kitchen.  _ Always  _ at the most inconvenient times. He was hard at work taping his  _ Welcome Home Lance!  _ banner up on the banister, positioning it perfectly so it could be seen from the front door entrance. 

He carefully hopped down from his perch on the chair, his bare feet slapping against the wood vinyl. He made his way to the kitchen quickly, just in time to catch his call on the last ring. He clicked the green answer button and held the phone to his ear. 

“Hey, Shiro.” 

“Keith!” His brother’s loud, enthusiastic voice rang out in his ear. “Hey, man! Are you excited about today? Today’s  _ the  _ day. He’s finally coming home with you. Did you clean?  _ Jesus,  _ Keith, you better clean that shit hole up before--” 

“Our _ house  _ is  _ not  _ a shit hole, and yes, I did, in fact, clean for the occasion.” 

“You sound… calm? Is everything alright?”

“I’m supposed to be calm, that’s the best way to keep Lance relaxed. Plus I took some Adderall this morning so I think I’ll be good.”

Shiro stuttered over the phone. “What the fuck, Keith! You don’t have an Adderall prescription, why are you even taking that?”

Keith knew this was coming. The whole lecture on taking nonprescription medication was bound to come up when he let it slip that he was on Adderall. He knew he would have to explain the mild hyperactivity disorder to Shiro at some point, but for now, he’d rather just keep that to himself and Lance. 

“Correction, I  _ do  _ have an Adderall prescription, but I’m only prescribed one pill every week to keep in check with my anxiety meds,” Keith mumbled on. “I was saving my one pill for today. I knew I’d probably need it.”

Shiro hmmm’d, making it clear he wasn’t going to push it any further. “Do you still plan to propose today?”

“Yeah, yeah I do…  _ God _ , I’m so nervous. I have hours until I plan to do it, but I can’t help but feel like it’s gonna be here in seconds. I just want to enjoy our picnic without letting it slip that I want to put a ring on it.”

“You’ll do fine, Keith. He wants this, and you know it.” 

Keith agreed with that. Lance and he had talked about marriage for months, but neither of them knew when it would be a good time. Lance had always been the one to bring it up, knowing just how far they could take the conversation before getting his hopes up. Lately, Lance avoided big conversations like the plague. After he spilled all his insecurities to Keith about two weeks ago, they’d done better to assure Lance that everything was going to be fine. 

Because  _ everything  _ is going to be fine. 

The call ended, Keith carefully cutting his brother off from his long tangent and bidding his goodbyes. 

Now Keith was left alone. Left alone to hear the ever-increasing  _ creek  _ in the wonky floorboards beneath his feet. Left alone to listen to the crackling of the frozen pipes below. Left alone in his head. 

_ Jesus _ … he couldn’t wait to get out of this house. 

The thought of moving fluttered back into his mind, melting away all of the insecurities from earlier. The house Lance had always wanted was up for sale. He put a reservation on it so he and Lance could take a tour. Although Keith was almost certain that Lance would want to buy it, no questions asked, he still wanted to be sure. It had the perfect ratio of windows to doors, according to Lance. The perfect yard, the perfect oak tree, the perfect life. The life he planned to build with Lance. 

Keith was going to mention it during their picnic using a little bit of crafting skills he picked up from Allura. He’d gotten this little heart-shaped locket, the ideal size he was looking for. He carefully cut out the photo of the house from the advertisement in the morning paper. It fit flawlessly in the prongs, whilst on the other side was a picture from their three year anniversary. Keith always loved that picture, just the two of them on their favorite hiking trail, the scenery just as gorgeous as Lance was that day. 

Some days, Keith has to remind himself that Lance isn’t as broken as he was. 

They’ll still go on hikes together. They’ll still have lunch at Hunk’s restaurant every now and then. They’ll still drive out to the grassy fields in the evening Texas heat and do the debaucherous things their neighbors complain about. 

They aren’t broken. 

Keith nearly jumped six feet off the floor when the alarm on his phone went off. He meant to turn it off earlier. He sighed out a relieved breath, moving to click off the loud ringing noise. It made him chuckle, how focused he felt when thinking about his future husband.  _ Hopefully  _ future husband. 

He left his phone lying on the island table before returning to his bedroom to freshen up to his greatest possible ability. He wanted to look as good as the day he’d first laid eyes on his boyfriend, back when he had lean muscles and a standoffish presence. And abbs. Lance loved his abbs. 

He had his shirt picked out the night before, pressing it down with a hot iron and checking to make sure all the buttons were still there. It was a deep shade of burgundy, contrasting nicely with the black slacks he had bought. Keith said he was going casual, but anyone would think he was attending a fancy gathering in this attire. He finished off the outfit with his sleek, black high tops. 

Anything can be casual with high top Converse. 

Even a marriage proposal. 

His hair was an easy fix. He tied it up in a man-bun style, letting loose pieces of hair fall around the front of his face. He didn’t even try to fix the messy aesthetic of his hair, he always knew Lance liked it that way. 

Keith stood in front of the mirror, settled on the fact that his clothing choice was sufficient. He didn’t waste any more time fiddling with his looks. Keith was already behind schedule.  _ His schedule.  _ All he really had left to do was pack a picnic basket full of food and pick up a bouquet of roses from the farmer’s market down the road. 

Keith huffed, cocking his head, looking at the mirror sideways before shaking his head. He left the bathroom feeling the rush of anxiety and excitement that came along with committing to a loved one. He looked around the recently cleaned bedroom, staring at the framed pictures on the wall. 

_ It will all be worth it.  _

Keith smiled. He snagged the velvet box off the bedside table and returned down to the kitchen. 

Packing up food was easy. All Keith had to do is  _ not  _ pack anything with peanuts in it. Lance is allergic, and he’s not all that fond of them anyway. He ran to the store just yesterday to stock up on anything he would need for Lance when he came back home. Keith found one of Lance’s old grocery lists in a folder he packed away when Lance was first admitted. He just bought all the items from the list and assumed Lance would like them.  _ Who wouldn’t like strawberries and overpriced lemonade?  _

Allura even gave him tips on how to pack everything (bless her heart). He wanted to be sure he could still fit all the food inside the small cooler even after he put the blanket in the bottom of the basket. 

“Arrange them in quadrants,” she had told him over the phone. “And  _ please  _ be neat about it. No one likes a messy picnic basket,  _ especially  _ if all the food is thrown in every direction.”

And that’s exactly what he did. He stuck with the quadrants, keeping fruits and fresh garden veggies in one section, while the subs and bottled lemonade were kept cold in the other. Below them, he kept the red and white blanket from all their past picnics. It was torn in places and splattered in mysterious stains, but it was  _ theirs.  _ One of the earliest remaining memories from their relationship. 

And of course the locket. But that didn’t need to be crammed between mouth-watering strawberries and their main meal. 

So it remained in the white Pandora box in his jacket pocket until it would be needed. 

The day was going to be one to remember. 

It would be amazing. 

  
  


_ Every little sound was like a knife to his brain. Irritation controlled his mood and therefore, ruined his day. Usually, after a day like today, Keith would drive home alone shouting about all the pent up issues from his day, and by the time he’d get home, everything would be fine.  _

_ But today he was not driving home alone. Rather he was driving with Lance in the passenger’s seat, trying desperately not to snap at everything his boyfriend said. He understood why Lance tried to make small talk, it made for an easy distraction from whatever Keith had to deal with that day. But Keith didn’t feel like talking, and each word grated on his ears and his mind.  _

_ The car was mostly silent, aside from the occasional comment from the brunette or the squeak of the brakes.  _

_ “That house is incredible.” _

_ Keith sighed, feeling his ever-loving patience growing thin. Not exactly in a bad way, he just wished his paychecks would come a little quicker and their bills wouldn’t come so rapidly. “I know, Lance. You say that almost every time we drive past it.” _

_ “Yeah, I know I do— but when it does go up for sale, we should take a tour. Even if we don’t have the budget.” _

_ “So you want to tour the house, even if it’s far beyond both our pay grades and leave without feeling unaccomplished? Because if so, be my guest.” _

_ It came out a little harsher than he intended, but Keith also didn’t want his boyfriend to get his hopes up. He couldn’t bear to see that look on his face every time they drove by the big yellow house. It reminded him that Lance still wanted more than just a shitty single-story home. Though he knew in a few years, a bigger house was a priority on their list, at the moment neither could even afford the thought of living in the yellow house.  _

_ Lance pouted, looking back out the car window, clearly trying to ignore the guilt on Keith’s face. The red flashing stop light illuminated on the dashboard of the car, reflecting off the brunette’s ocean blue eyes. They rarely show the hurt Lance feels, but there was a small moment when Keith thought he’d truly brought him down.  _

_ “Lance, I’m sorry—” _

_ “It’s fine, really.”  _

_ Keith gripped the steering wheel. “No-- It’s really not. I know I’ve been short with you lately, and I have no excuses.” _

_ Lance was silent, but his eyes still held a frustrating emotion. “Just let it go, okay? I don’t want to fight right now. Whatever it is, things will work themselves out.” _

_ Keith scoffed, his temper flaring once again. He bit back his comment, seeing too as he didn’t want to fight either. It just felt good to get the last word in sometimes. But his relationship with Lance was different. No matter how many times he got the last word in, Lance was always the bigger man, the mature one, the first to cry out of pure frustration and leave. He always held his tongue, was always patient and he listened.  _

_ Keith tried to do that, but it just never really fell in line.  _

_ Keith poked at the fire until his end of the stick was burned and the flame had only ever stayed the same.  _

_ The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, Lance silently gazing out the window at the passing rural landscape. Keith nervously glanced over to his boyfriend every other light. He tapped on the steering wheel, his fingers progressively getting quicker and the taps getting louder.  _

_ Lance’s face was still unreadable. It was neither anger nor gloom. He turned the volume knob on the console, the melody of an Elton John song filling their car. Keith stared at the brunette for a long moment before the cars behind him aggressively beeped.  _

_ The light was green.  _

_ Keith clamped his foot down on the accelerator, the vehicle jerking forward in a moment’s time. He didn’t even bat an eye when Lance’s body tugged against the seat belt, or when he slammed on the breaks too quickly. He didn’t look over for the rest of the car ride. He couldn’t tell if the guilt was eating him alive or he was drowning in his own repressed anger.  _

_ Suddenly he was pulling into their driveway and turning the engine off. The whole ride had gone by in a flash, Keith had felt the sense of an out-of-body experience. He was slamming his car door, shoving his closed fists into his jean pockets, and storming through the front door, leaving it wide open. All of his frustration, all of his rage and aggression, piled up in his mind was spilling through the cracks and onto the floor like molten lava.  _

_ Keith was the storm flaring up inside a glass bottle.  _

_ Part of him knew he needed to calm down.  _

_ The other part wanted to raise hell. To yell and scream and drink and breakdown.  _

_ But the rational side always won, especially when Keith barged into the bedroom, staring face to face with the framed memories. Pictures scattered their walls like a photo gallery, each piece more memorable than the last. Memories from before they started dating, back when Lance was just a cute dork with round glasses and had a thing for strawberry flavored chapstick. Memories from when they first kissed, when they first started going out, when they first bought their house.  _

_ Dammit.  _

_ Keith’s breath heaved, tears threatening to fall. Why was he so angry all of a sudden? _

_ The solution to all his problems was to just take a swig from their whiskey bottle and jerk off wherever the fuck he found himself to be. But Lance didn’t like that, especially the drinking part. His father was a drinker, scarily so, and he never wants Keith to fall into the same unhealthy habits as his father.  _

_ Keith stumbles back to the conjoined bathroom, slamming the door before yanking all his clothes off and climbing into the shower. He turned the knob until the water singed his skin and numbed his mind. He didn’t want to leave, the water grounding him in place.  _

_ Though eventually, the fire burnt out, leaving Keith in his own misery.  _

_ He felt himself coming down from the anger high, his breath calming and his head cleared. His skin crawled with the anxiousness from the events prior, and the guilt came back to swallow him whole.  _

_ Keith turned the boiling water off, stepping out of the shower and into the steamy bathroom. The small tiled washroom was foggy like Keith’s mind. The steam reminded him of smoke, and where there is smoke, there’s fire. Or at least there was a fire. Keith didn’t feel the same destructive wild flame as he had before. He felt like the cinder and ash from after hell would arise, the new, hopeless beginning of something better, or worse.  _

_ Keith smudged the condensation off the mirror, looking deeply at the man who stared back at him.  _

_ He tried to look to the surface, to see what could only be seen by the naked eye. Keith tried to see his red, irritated skin and his fragile collar bone poking out. He tried to see the physical flaws, but could only see his phonological ones. His eyes held the fear, the guilt, and temper, but also the love and care that came along with his personality.  _

_ The love and care Lance had given him.  _

_ And all he could do now was try.  _

  
  


Everything was going smoothly.  _ That was never a good sign.  _

Keith learned from early on that anything  _ running  _ smoothly would eventually breakdown and decay rapidly. Things never just run smoothly. There has to be some sort of catch, a gray area that he’d missed. There must be something to go wrong.

_ Right? _

The ride to the hospital was normal. Once again, never a good sign. Keith had stopped at the local farmer’s produce stand where he found a gorgeous bouquet of roses Lance was sure to love. The fresh watermelon was too hard to resist, so he hoped Lance didn’t mind him bringing a whole ass watermelon to their picnic. Twelve dollars later, Keith was back on the highway towards the hospital just as he had planned. 

The car was quiet, aside from the classic rock songs gently playing over the stereo. There was contentment to the ride that evening, contentment Keith hadn’t felt in a long time. A sense of success and commitment. Pride. 

Keith hadn’t felt pride in anything for a long time. 

He took little to no pride in his job. He really wished he’d just gone to a trade school instead of getting a business degree. He didn’t take pride in his skills or handiwork. He especially didn’t care for his people skills. There was always room for improvement there. 

But now, driving down the bright and sunny asphalt highway, all he felt was pride. 

Pride in himself. 

Pride in them. 

_ Pride.  _


	2. Until The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No need for a summary. 
> 
> Ya'll already know wtf is going on. 
> 
> if you like it then you shudda put a ring on it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, one more series in the books. This one has been a ride. But none the less, one door has been closed. 
> 
> But as always, another will open.

As Keith pulled into the hospital parking lot, he felt as if his bones were filled with bees, all buzzing around and shaking, his whole body stiffened. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong. Like the hospital could go on lockdown, and he and Lance would get held in longer. It’s happened before, except that time Lance wasn’t to leave him room. Or his boyfriend could be having a bad day and not want any visitors. That wasn’t likely, but if it were, now would be a tad bit inconvenient. 

So much could go wrong in such little time. 

Keith groaned, smacking his head against the steering wheel in a frustrated manner.  _ Stupid fucking anxiety…  _

The ride from the farmers market to the hospital had passed by in a blur. Keith was hoping it would have gone by slower, maybe even dragged on for hours and hours. Yes, he still wanted to see his boyfriend, to propose and see Lance’s tears of joy glisten in the sunlight.

But he _ still _ couldn’t shake the feeling something would go wrong. 

_ Horribly wrong.  _

He stalled for as long as he could, fiddling with his shirt collar and checking around for anything he may have forgotten. Roses,  _ check.  _ Picnic basket,  _ check.  _ Locket,  _ check.  _

Fucking engagement ring,  _ checkcheckcheckdoublecheck… _

Keith gripped the wheel, breathing in deeply. He could smell the roses in the seat beside him, and hear the gentle breeze that rustled in the tree beside his car. The world seemed quiet, yet every small sound was like a boom of sound in his ear, echoing in the canyons of his mind for miles. He could calm down, in fact, he  _ should  _ calm down. It shouldn’t even be an option for him at this point. But part of him felt like he couldn’t relax. Part of him knew that today, his boyfriend, and quite possibly his fiance, would leave this wretched place for the first time in eight months. Part of him knew this was like signing up for a membership to the gym, one thing that is impossible to cancel.  _ How the fuck do you cancel a planned engagement?  _

Keith’s breath hitched in his throat. He lept out of the car as if his seat had suddenly become a slab of molten rock. His body was burning with anticipation and fear and excitement and regret. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt these things. But there was no stopping it now. 

He swung around to the passenger’s side door, grabbing all the items for their picnic (and proposal) before skipping towards the automatic sliding glass doors. Keith knows he already looks  _ way  _ too happy just waltzing into a psychiatric hospital. Nobody just comes dancing through the doors with a smile plastered on their face, humming to a Led Zeppelin song. 

Nobody except Keith Kogane. 

Keith slowed his pace once he was actually inside the main lobby, where he rarely came unless he absolutely needed to. He liked entering through the extended stay wing rather than the large main entrance. Plus, he would need to remember to say goodbye to Axca when leaving. He’d never just leave the receptionist without a proper  _ “See ya, later short stack!”.  _

The main lobby also had security staff, and there was no way he was sneaking a cooler inside of a big-ass wicker basket into the hospital  _ without  _ them noticing. But, unfortunately, anything that wants to be brought in by the visitors must be cleared by the security staff first. Guess it’s a good thing he put the locket in his pocket instead of the basket before coming in. Patients weren’t allowed to have jewelry. 

He set the twine basket up on the counter labeled Patient Security Staff Wing A-D. Lance’s room was in wing B, Keith just assumed that he was at the right place. He waited until a larger man came over, and introduced himself as the head security staff member. Not that Keith really listened. He was too busy watching the security officer riffle through his tightly organized cooler. 

When he was finished, he handed the basket back to Keith. “You’re all clear, man. Special occasion?” 

Keith beamed. “Yeah-- uh, hopefully, a special one.” 

“Good luck! You’ll sure make your lady happy with all the goodies in there!” 

Keith had already turned to leave. He muttered a quick “thank you” before he was off and down the hall to the elevator. It didn’t bother him how the security officer thought there was a “lady” in his life. It bothered him that guy thought  _ anybody  _ would appreciate a disorganized cooler. Especially his “lady”. 

Upon arriving at the elevator, Keith found it to be quite empty despite the hustle and bustle of the hallway. The automatic doors opened, Keith stepped in, and the sound of steel clamping shut behind him echoed in the small, quiet chamber. He selected the button with the illuminating number four, listening as the robotic voice of a woman filled the elevator. Whatever time he had between getting from the lobby to the fourth floor was spent rearranging that basket, making it look a bit better than before. He could feel the rumbling below his feet as the box climbed higher and higher. 

Until it stopped. 

On the fourth floor. 

_ Lance’s floor.  _

The mirrored doors parted like a miracle at sea, the waves still and the water calm. It was almost as if Keith had walked into a safe zone during a war. There was no one on the fourth floor, save the occasional nurse or lost patient. The first floor had been a maze, having to weave around groups of anxious loved ones just to even get to the closest elevator. But now, on the fourth floor, it was just a narrow void of doors and flickering LEDs. 

Keith paced down the hallway, looking for any sign of his brother. He really should be looking for a blob of just pure white. Shiro has this white, angelic aesthetic, and he doesn’t even realize it. His hair is white like freshly fallen snow. Quite frankly, it starts to burn Keith’s eyes if he stares at it too long. His brother also works hour in and out in a white doctor’s coat, perhaps intensifying his strange, cloud-like appearance. 

Surely enough, as he continued past door after door, Keith finally began to see a white mass moving his direction down the hallway. Shiro, who had been transfixed on his conveniently white clipboard, glanced up in his direction, a smile adorn on his face. 

They met in the middle, both taking a few paces forward to end up outside room number four-hundred fifty. _ Lance’s room.  _

Keith knew it was Lance’s room, but the plaque with his essential information had been removed. For the third time that morning, warmth bloomed in his chest. “Glad to see you guys got that thing taken care of.”

Shiro laughed, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Yeah-- we figured Matt could get it off this morning. That way we wouldn’t need to have a conversation about how much you hate it.”

“Bold of you to assume it still bothers me.”

“Right, right-- nothing  _ ever  _ bothers you. Especially not when you’ve had a dosage of Adderall and enough caffeine to power all of mankind for one week. Also, when were you going to tell me about your newest addition to your little pill collection, huh? Those better be prescription and not just the miracle works of Pidge or something.”

Keith groaned, rolling his eyes back into his skull hoping to find the will power to go through with this conversation. He didn’t find it. “ _ First off _ \-- do you really think Pidge would just give me some Adderall  _ without  _ payment of some sort? And, she’s not just dealing her meds to people because she can. She did that once, but only because Matt is a little shit.  _ Secondly--  _ I do have a  _ legal  _ Adderall prescription. But we can table that discussion for another day  _ because  _ I’ve got some life-altering decisions to make today.  _ And  _ you have to verify the release forms I filled out last week, so  _ chop-chop _ !” 

Shiro smirked, his eyes lit up with wonder. “Can I see the ring?”

“Not until you sign those damn forms.”

“Fine-- but promise you’ll let me look at it before you run off with your fiance.”

Keith shooed Shiro back towards his office. “I’ve got a picnic planned for later. You’re more than welcome to stop by and be creepy. And yes, you can see the ring later.” 

Shiro cheered softly, waltzing back through his office entrance behind the nurse’s station. If Keith didn’t know any better, he would think that Shiro is the most excited about the proposal than anyone. Anyone who knew anyway…

Keith turned back towards Lance’s room, swiping his key card in the slot before letting himself in. “Guess who’s just arrived!”

Lance turned around from where he had been taking down old photographs, a gigantic smirk plastered on his face. He practically ran into Keith’s waiting arms (minus the one that was holding the basket). “Ah, yes! The life of the party.”

Keith set the basket down not as gracefully as he hoped. It landed with a _ thud  _ on the clean blue and white tile floor, but he could care less. He scooped Lance up into his hold, twirling him in circles until the two on them erupted in laughter. Lance nuzzled his neck, breathing in against warm, pale skin. Keith hadn’t seen this much giddy-Lance-energy since they decided on a day trip to Disney two years ago. He himself hadn’t felt this content in months. It was domestic, calm, and hopeful. Everything Keith was hoping for. 

Nothing’s gone wrong. 

_ Yet… _

Lance lifted his head to meet Keith’s eyes, his gentle blue ones basking in the amethyst glow of his boyfriends. His smile,  _ oh his smile,  _ made Keith’s heart soar. Their lips connected for a chaste, loving kiss, sunshine pouring through their broken shards of heart. They pulled away, smiling like love-struck teenagers. 

Keith finally put Lance down on his feet, but the brunette was back in his arms in seconds. For a moment, Keith thought he would feel the box-like shape in his pocket. Then the proposal of his dreams would be in a bare ass room with little to no prior thoughts.

Lance stood on his tippy toes, fixing Keith’s shirt collar whilst leaning against his chest. “ _ Sooo _ … what’s got you all dressed up? I know it’s my last day, but I didn’t know we had a dress requirement.”

Keith rested his hands on Lance’s hips, feeling the smooth fabric of his hospital joggers against his fingertips. “Just wanted to look handsome for you. Is it working?”

“Is the fact that I want to jump your bones right here, right now, enough to justify?”

Keith snorted. “Fair enough.”

They stood there, swaying in the empty room, acting as if time had stopped and all worries had been forgotten. It was quiet, aside from the soft rain  _ pittering  _ on the tin roof of the hospital. 

_ Wait… shiiit-- _

“Is it seriously raining?  _ Right now  _ of all fucking times?”

Lance cocked his head, a small smile daunted on his lips. “What’s so bad about the rain?”

_ Everything. Is. Going. Fucking. Wrong. _

Keith groaned, letting his head fall down to meet Lance’s forehead halfway. “I prepared a picnic basket for us, similar to the one we used to take when we did our truck-bed-campouts. And I had everything perfect. We were going to go outside to this little grassy area under this big oak tree where we could watch the cars on the highway.

The more I talk about it, the more stupid it sounds. It was supposed to be a surprise but now the outside aspect of our picnic lunch date is ruined. Now, all we have is… lunch?”

Lance’s smile only grew as Keith tried to explain his intentions for their picnic. Yeah, it would have been nice to go outside and enjoy the fresh air, but they could still make do inside rather than out. Keith was glad he could look at the optimistic side of situations now. It made them bearable. 

Lance cupped Keith’s cheek, kissing the tip of his nose with the gentlest of touches. “Why don’t we just have our picnic here? In the room? It can still be romantic. I have battery-operated candles that I’ve been dying to use.”

Keith smirked. “Come on, baby. Let’s make the most of this shitty weather together.” 

The two split apart, Keith grabbing the picnic basket while Lance dug the candles out of his personal drawer. Lance’s personal drawer consisted of things that calmed him down, like the trinkets Keith would bring him every week, and also the random shit he steals from the nurse’s station when he manages a walk down the hall. Now the drawer was mostly empty, all the silly items went who knows where. 

Lance turned back to where Keith had spread the enormous red blanket out over the floor, the colors popping out among the trademark blandness of the room. Keith looked up, watching Lance’s grin grow larger as he plopped down onto the center of the throw. Keith took his seat behind the brunette, pulling him back into his lap.

Keith’s arms found themselves right at home around Lance’s torso, holding him closely. He trailed his fingers up and down the sides of his boyfriend’s stomach, watching his body squirm away from the touch. 

“If you tickle me, Kogane, I will bite your arm.”

Keith scoffed, tightening his grip around the lanky Cuban. “Is that so? Why don’t you, instead of bitting  _ me,  _ consider biting into the tasty subs I bought from Hunk’s niece?”

“ _ Awww!  _ Is she doing the softball fundraiser again this year? Last year, she did a popcorn fundraiser for new bats. I miss little Keara.” 

“Yeah, she said it was for new equipment. Hunk said she’s been making a pretty decent profit since she tells everyone that it’s her first year. She’s a smart little kid, smarter than I was at eleven years old.”

Lance flopped his head upward, looking up into Keith’s eyes. He twisted the jet black hairs falling out of Keith’s man bun, smiling gently. “I miss everyone. I’m really excited to see the gang again. I know they visited me here but this time it’ll feel like an official  _ “hey, Lance can finally go places and do things”  _ kinda hang out.” 

Keith leaned down to press a kiss on Lance’s forehead, the brunette closing his eyes to embrace to tender moment. “Everyone usually goes to Keara’s softball games. Hunk coaches, Pidge catches footage for their end of the season party with her drone, and Shiro just likes to sit in the shade like an old man. There’s one on Sunday morning. Would you feel up to going?”

Lance shot up in his lap, nearly clonking Keith in the head. He spun around, straddling Keith’s lap, and grabbed his face between his two hands. He looked deeply into Keith’s crystalized gem purple eyes, a giddy excitement held deep within his own. 

“Keith, we are going to that softball game. I don’t care if I have to drag your lazy ass out of bed at seven-fifteen in the morning,  _ we are attending that softball game! _ ”

Keith gulped, chuckling out of both delight and fear. “ _ A-Alright _ \-- the king has spoken. Now, shall we enjoy a lovely sub from my aesthetically pleasing picnic basket?”

“Hell yeah!”

Lance slid off his lap, scrapping for the picnic basket a few feet away. He pulled it over, setting it between the two of them before opening the lid of the cooler. 

Lance gasped. “Fresh fruit? Vegetables? Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?”

“Nothing! I swear. I knew how much you enjoyed going strawberry picking, but we kinda missed the season. So, I bought you fresh strawberries in hopes of making up for that.”

Lance pulled the strawberries and cool whip out of the cooler, smiling like a kid on Christmas. “We’ll just have to go next year. Plus, there’s a strawberry patch near that yellow house we used to pass. Have you checked on the house in a while? Asked it how it’s doing, or I don’t know…  _ if it’s up for sale? _ ”

Keith smiled, using the perfect opening that he saw to his full advantage. He pulled the Pandora box out of his pocket, mindful of the jingling chains and smooth box. “As a matter of fact, I  _ have  _ spoken with the house. He wanted me to give you this box, or something. I don’t know what it is.”

Lance blushed, his eyes as wide as truck tires. He managed to climb over his look of shock and smiled brightly at his boyfriend. He gracefully took the box from Keith’s hands, his grin wide and filling. 

“ _ Well _ … I’ll be sure to thank the house on our ride back home,” Lance said, lightly lifting the lid off the box. His eyes went wide with shock, his hand coving his mouth as he lifted the locket out of the small box, light gleaming off the heart from many angles. “Oh my god, Keith…”

“Look inside it, sweetheart.”

Lance looked into Keith’s eyes, happiness clinging to his features. His shaking fingers worked their way around the edges of the heart shape locket, pulling at the top clamp. As the locket opened, Lance’s shock had disappeared. Tears gathered in his eyes as he stared at the picture of the two of them on their favorite hiking trail. That was three years into their relationship. On the other side of the heartshaped locket, was a picture of… 

_ The yellow house? _

Lance looked up, confused as to why a picture of their dream house inside the locket. His eyes met Keith’s, who was chuckling like a mad man. He held out a packet of papers, stapled neatly together. 

“Keith, what--”

“I have it on a reservation,” Keith said, Lance’s brain finally clicking. “We have a tour of Wednesday if you still want to move--”

Lance sniffled, a tear gliding down his face. Keith reached his arms out to collect his boyfriend in his arms, who melted into his touch. He giggled against Keith’s neck, wiping away his excitement (which came in the form of emotional tears apparently). “Thank you, Keith. This has been the greatest day of my life, and it’s only twelve forty-five in the morning.”

Keith kissed him on the nose, cradling his beloved in his arms. If Lance thinks this day can’t get any better, just wait until Keith pulls that son of a bitch of a ring out of pocket. This is probably the best day of his life. Getting out of the hospital, getting a new house, and getting proposed to. 

The Boyfriend of the Year Award goes to Keith Kogane. 

The rest of the day was spent with the two eagerly munching on the food Keith packed, sharing some with Shiro when he stopped by. Lance shared the news about the house, earning a sly grin from Shiro. At the moment, Keith nearly tossed his ass back into the hallway. 

There was no way he was going to have his proposal ruined by his doofus of a brother. 

Not a chance. 

Shiro stole a carrot from the clear container Keith had in his lap. “When did you become such a big advocate for the whole  _ Eat Local  _ idea?”

“Since I discovered the farmers market downtown.”

“No need to get snappy, baby Kogane. I’m just saying, you don’t have the best track record with eating healthy. You lived off Poptarts and microwave dinners since you were in high school.”

Keith scowled, popping another carrot in his mouth while his boyfriend and his brother laughed at his antics. “How are those release forms going?”

Shiro, still giggling from his earlier joke, reached into his white lab coat and pulled out a few folded up papers. “All filled out and ready, you two are free to leave whenever,” He said, handing the forms to Keith. “Don’t make the mistake of leaving without saying goodbye though. This is your one and only warning, Kogane.” 

And just like that, the white blur that was Takashi Shirogane bounced up and out of the room, leaving behind the two very confused lovers. Keith was convinced Shiro was still an eleven-year-old boy trapped inside a phycologist’s body. There was no other way to explain his occasional rambunctious energy and immature nature, even as a man in his late thirties. 

Lance snorted, going back to the half-eaten strawberry in his hand. “Is he acting more odd than usual?” 

“Indefinitely, yes. But Shiro is always weird, it’s kinda in his nature.” 

Lance munched on the rest of the fruit from the cooler while Keith cracked open one of the bottles of lemonade. He watched how content his boyfriend seemed, stuffing his face with berries and cool whip. Nothing could ever tear Keith away from the spectacular sight. He could fight tooth and nail just to stay and watch Lance nearly choke on the half-chewed fruit. 

Keith took a sip of lemonade, the coolness of the drink quenching his need for water. He couldn’t help but feel satisfied by the overwhelmingly sugary flavor he’d enveloped in his mouth. Foods tasted better around Lance. Flowers smelled better around Lance. Colors seemed brighter around Lance. 

Everything around  _ Lance  _ was just as gorgeous as he was. 

Lance finished off the last strawberry, licking excess whipped sugar off his fingers. “It sounds like the rain stopped.”

“Yeah, we could go out and walk around for a while.”

“We just have to be sure to stop back in to say goodbye to Shiro, or else he’d probably use his weird cloud-like energy to appear at your bedside tonight.”

Keith shuddered. “I don’t want Shiro anywhere near my bedside,” Keith said, hoisting himself up. Once when Keith was younger, Shiro had stood beside his bed late at night with a kong from his Foreign Language course professor. It’s safe to say Keith slept with one eye open for a while after that experience. “We’ll just pack up the cooler and stuff here and take it out to the car. Then we can roam around for a while. Sound good?”

Lance folded the blanket neatly, placing it back in the basket underneath the blue cooler bag before taking Keith’s hand. “Sounds amazing, babe,” Lance whispered, pecking Keith on the lips before leading him out of the room. Keith dragged the basket behind him, flower petals nearly falling out of the bouquet as his ambitious boyfriend pulled him down the hallway. 

Keith laughed, increasing his pace to catch up with his lover. “I brought you a bag of clothes in my car. That way you can get changed into something other than waist-elastic sweatpants and a white t-shirt.”

Lance smiled, leaning into Keith’s side as they made their way towards the elevator, hand in hand. The ride down the lift was quiet, aside from occasional sigh of content from the brunette. Keith offered him a quick warning as they arrived on the ground floor, steadying himself before the metal doors parted. The two quickly hopped out, rushing around groups of nurses and patients and legal guardians. It amazed Keith that they were able to keep their hands connected during the whole debacle. 

Once they finally broke past all of the crowds of people and the main lobby, the two lovers stopped outside the revolving doors, staring out at the damp parking lot. 

Keith squeezed Lance’s hand reassuringly. “You ready?”

“I missed the rain.”

“I know, love.”

“What are we waiting for?”

Keith chuckled, staring down at Lance’s mesmerized face. “Absolutely nothing.”

Lance’s face broke out in a heart bursting smile as he and Keith walked through the glass doors. It was like walking through a door to another world. The hot, stale hospital air was nothing compared to the warm, sodden world that lay beyond the glass. It was natural, comforting too. Lance looked so at ease, yet so excited. 

So  _ happy _ . 

Keith felt the ring box burning a hole in his pocket. He needed a plan of action,  _ something  _ to go off of. He couldn’t just propose without having planned anything--

Lance tugged on his blouse. “Look, Keith! It’s a rainbow.”

Keith looped his arm around his boyfriend’s waist, looking off at the fainted colors in the sky while Lance practically melted into his side. “That’s pretty gay, Lance.”

“You’re pretty gay.”

Keith snorted, kissing the top of Lance’s silky hazelnut locks. He glanced over at a bench over near the side of the overhang, noting the dryness of the seat and the perfect view of the sky from its location.  _ Perfect. _ He silently led his dazed over to the bench, sitting him down before backing up so Lance could see all of him. Apprehensive energy and all.

“What’s the big deal, Kogane. You’re blocking the view!”

Keith laughed nervously. “Yeah, just gimme a minute. I gotta--  _ uh,  _ figure this out real quick,” He said, one hand in his pocket and the other wiping his brow. There wasn’t any time for a pep talk. He just had to assess the situation. He was going to propose to Lance on a bench outside Altea Psychiatric Hospital. He just couldn’t wait any longer. 

“Lance,” Keith started, his voice cracking with anxious ambition. “You are the single strongest person I know, and you have no idea how incredible you are. You kept me tethered to the Earth when all I wanted to do was float away. You’re the reason I became a better person. You’re the reason I was able to put myself out into the world and make friends again. You made me a better person.”

“Keith…”

“Hold on, sweetheart,” Keith said, tears gathered in both the eyes of each other. “I just can’t imagine my life without you. I’ve tried, and it was one of the darkest thoughts I’ve ever had. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Lance sobbed as Keith pulled the navy blue box out of his pocket, the raven-haired man bending down on one knee. Tears glided down both of their cheeks, happiness pouring into their souls. 

“Lance McClain, will you marry me?”

Lance’s ‘yes’ was small and emotional, and the vigorous nodding of his head confirmed it. “Yes! Keith,  _ yes!”  _ Lance cried, leaping off the bench into Keith’s tight, gracious arms. Keith sniffled, pulling back to passionately kiss his fiance, YES! Yes,  _ his fiance,  _ as the world as they knew it was oblivious to them. They were clouded by happiness, not a care in the world other than each other. 

Keith pulled back after a few moments, sliding the ring onto Lance’s finger. “The stone is the same color as your eyes,” he said, cupping Lance’s cheek. “I knew it was the right one.”

“I love you so much.”

Keith brought the brunette in for another kiss. “I love you too.”

“No, Keith, you’re not hearing me correctly.  _ I. Fucking. Love. You. _ ”

“Would you still love me if I told you Shiro knew about this for the past two weeks?”

Lance scoffed, his fake-voice-of-betrail making itself ever so evident. “We’ve been engaged not even five minutes and you’re already asking for a divorce?”

Keith kissed him lovely on the lips, pressing their foreheads together once they broke away. 

“Never, baby. You’re stuck with me until the end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> This is the last part of the Head Sick series! Thank you for those who stuck with me throughout this adventure. Stay tuned for more and as always, wash your hands you filthy animal.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave Kudos!  
> ~~~~  
> Anyway, this will be the final part of this twisted and adventurous rollercoaster with two of my most favorite boys in the whole universe. Lance and Keith will likely face challenges ahead, but together they can make it through. Possibly with the new addition of a family member too :) 
> 
> As for my Voltron Fics, they will never end. But they will likely become less of a priority in terms of writing for the VLD fandom. I will still write KLANCE fics and whatnot, just probably not as often as I had before. I'm working on expanding to other fandoms, as seen when I posted my first TWD fic back in February. But just know that if you see a slow in Voltron fics, it is because I am working to expand my comfort zone and learn new things about writing. 
> 
> Thank you for all of your support over the past year!
> 
> -Champ


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